House wants uniform local gun laws

February 18, 2009

PIERRE - Local governments should be prohibited from any action that restricts carrying of firearms, the South Dakota House says. The House voted 46-20 on Tuesday to pass HB1278, which prohibits townships, counties and cities from restricting possession, ownership, sale or carrying of firearms in any way. Supporters said the goal is to make sure South Dakota adults with permits to carry concealed weapons can travel freely without fear they'll violate some local ordinance. Rep. Don Kopp, R-Rapid City, sponsored the bill. A law passed in 1983 had the same intent, he said. ''It was designed to make sure the gun-carrying laws were uniform throughout the state,'' Kopp said. ''If I were going from Rapid City to Huron, South Dakota, and decided to stop at the city park in Pierre for lunch, I wouldn't be arrested for carrying a concealed weapon because some individual, the mayor, decided to make that illegal.'' However, he said some local governments adopted restrictions anyway, and that made gun owners uncertain about where they could carry a firearm. The old law prohibited local ordinances. The proposed law would prohibit local governments from ''in any way'' restricting firearms and would invalidate any existing restrictions. Rep. Eldon Nygaard, D-Vermillion, questioned whether the proposed law would interfere with the authority of public universities in the state to adopt weapons' policies. ''It keeps them from managing the situation on their campuses,'' Nygaard said. His comments were ruled out of order because that wasn't the topic of the Kopp bill. The issue of guns on campus has been an emotional one in the past two legislative sessions. A bill prohibiting universities from restricting weapons on campuses died in the Senate earlier this session. A similar bill is scheduled for a vote on Wednesday in the House Education Committee. A subcommittee worked on that measure on Tuesday. The House killed an amendment to Kopp's bill that would have allowed local government to restrict firearms in some locations if they posted the area as a gun-free zone. Rep. Val Rausch, R-Big Stone City, called that a compromise. Rep. Tom Brunner, R-Nisland, said the amendment would destroy the intent of the original bill. ''Basically, it guts the bill,'' Brunner said. ''The Supreme Court has said the city of Washington, D.C., can't do this, so why would we let municipalities in South Dakota do it?'' Dennert, H. Paul É No Elliott, Elaine É Excused Feickert, Dennis É No Novstrup, David É Yes